


Silent Disco

by MISSYriver



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Crush at First Sight, EXO SECRET SANTA, EXO-L'S Secret Santa 20, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MISSYriver/pseuds/MISSYriver
Summary: He’s losing control of his own life.A snowflake in a blizzard.A flash of green in a sea of white catches his eye.Min-Seok watches the blurry reflection in the glass take the shape of a chestnut haired woman. She sways back and forth her arms up in the air. He turns around to get a better look. The woman is on the other side of the room lost in her own world dancing to a beat Min-Seok can't hear.
Relationships: Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Silent Disco

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my gift for EXO-L's secret Santa a gift for Xiuxiuflake

Kim MinSeok watches the tracker board flip his flight from delayed to canceled. Protest and colorful curse words erupt from around him. He’s stuck. The growing blizzard outside also guarantees he’s spending the night in the airport. 

After years of traveling MinSeok has spent more than a few nights in airports around the world. He knew a few hidden corners where he could hide and find a few hours of sleep where he wouldn’t be bothered. He pulled down his beanie, adjusted his mask and worked his way through the midnight travelers toward the executive VIP lounge. The lounge offered complementary food, top shelf booze, leather recliners, sleeping quarters, and privacy. This airport had a few different lounges but he preferred the smaller one facing the water. The sleeping pods had the bigger beds and all the chairs reclined. 

The attendant greets him at the door scanning his membership card. MinSeok is informed the sleeping quarters are all occupied and is shown a closet filled with pillows and blankets. He is told the kitchen is closed but snacks and drinks are provided near the bar. MinSeok thanks and tips the attendant before finding a secluded corner to settle into. He drops his bag, blankets and pillow into a chair and walks to the floor to ceiling windows. Crossing his arms over his chest he watches Mother Nature rage against the glass.

For almost five year’s MinSeok’s been the Executive Consultant for his father’s company. He travels around the world to different subsidiaries interviewing, examining, and if needed, eliminating the “problem.” Against his father's advice MinSeok rarely closed a business. When and if he did, he made sure the employees were taken care of.

His decisions save families and strain the relationship he has with his father. 

MinSeok’s tired of the constant traveling. He hates living out of a suitcase, spending more time in hotels than the condo he bought three years ago. He misses his friends back home. MinSeok rarely has time to socialize much less date. He is a shadow in his own life, if something doesn’t change soon he rationalizes might lose his mind. 

He’s losing control of his own life. 

A snowflake in a blizzard.

A flash of green in a sea of white catches his eye. 

MinSeok watches the blurry reflection in the glass take the shape of a chestnut haired woman. She sways back and forth her arms up in the air. He turns around to get a better look. The woman is on the other side of the room lost in her own world dancing to a beat MinSeok can't hear. 

She wears a green knit sweater, faded blue jeans, knee high brown leather boots. On her head is a pink beanie covered in white hearts, headphones over her ears. Brown frame glasses sit on her nose. Her face is clean of makeup. The corner of her mouth turned up in a half smile. 

MinSeok feels a wave of longing crash into him. He wants a taste of her joy, her ability to live in the moment. She doesn't appear to care that she's stuck in an airport two nights before Christmas, she’s enjoying herself. Making a party no matter who is around. MinSeok’s desire to join her surprises him. He starts walking toward her circle of light.

If he'd seen her in a crowd, he’d think she was cute and once he’s closer, he realizes he’d have been wrong. 

She is beautiful.

She steps forward, back, gives a spin. He is spellbound by her swaying hips. She draws him in, seduces him without trying. He should walk away and leave her to her privacy. A flash of light hits her face illuminating her smile and strengths his resolve to keep moving. MinSeok _needs_ to know who she is. 

Her slow rhythmic motion changes to a faster pace. She bobs her head back and forth, spins around, her smile broad and hers arms out wide. 

MinSeok catches a scent of jasmine before a hand smacks his chin. 

“Holy Jobs,” she squeaks. 

Green eyes meet his brown. Hers are wide with shock. He is close enough to see a gold sunflower burst in the center of her jade green eyes. He thought of a sun kissed meadow, a happy dancing flower reaching for the light. Warmth spread across his chest.

“I'm sorry, it's my fault I walked onto your dance floor.” MinSeok says. 

She scrunches her nose, tilts her head back a little to look up at him. He hadn’t noticed how tiny she was while she’d been dancing. 

“What?!” she calls loudly. Her eyebrows shoot up and she pulls the headphones down. “Oh, sorry. What’d you say?”

MinSeok slowly smiles down at her. Her cheeks redden to a soft blush and she looks away.

“What are you listening to?” MinSeok asks one of the questions on his mind.

“EXO’s last album. It’s fantastic, have you heard it?” 

MinSeok shakes his head, “never heard of ‘em.”

“You’ve never heard of them?” Her look of shock makes MinSeok chuckle. “Where have you been, on a deserted island? They are one of the hottest K-pop bands on Prism.”

“K-pop? Prism?” MinSeok shrugs. 

Her face turns a brighter shade of pink. “Seriously? Are you serious right now? How have you never heard of Prism, the digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs. Do you listen to music? Do you like music? Anything, anyone you like or want is on Prism. ”

MinSeok shrugs again, his hands up in surrender. “Not really the music type, I’m more of a sports news guy.”

Her mouth drops open, “I feel so sorry for you.” She sounds as though she genuinely means it too. “Since Prism was released this year I won't hold that against you. But to have no music is sacrilege. No, you need music. Music heals the soul.” Her pitch raises, clearly distressed in some way over his lack of interest.

“Who says my soul needs to heal?” MinSeok says with a smirk.

She raises her hand above her head, pointing down at herself, “I do.” She drops her hand, offering it out to him, “Park JinAe, your guide to the wonderful world of music and savior of your soul.” Her smile is breathtaking.

“Kim MinSeok, your willing and devoted student.” He steps back and bows with a flourish. 

“You are in luck, I have an extra pair of headphones. We will have our own silent disco.”

“Silent disco?” he asks, brow quivering as he straightens up.

“Ugh, you have so much to learn young Padawan.” She rolls her eyes.

JinAe walks away before MinSeok can ask what she called him. Maybe it was better if he didn’t make her head explode before his music lesson by asking too many questions. She pulls out a pair of dark blue headphones from a pouch in what appears to be her luggage. 

“These are Sapphire X1’s noise-cancelling wireless headphones. Thirty hours of battery life, fully charged. Available in multiple colors. They have a combination of wireless codecs-aptX and Parkrive’s proprietary LDAC tech. Parkrive Tech has created a adaptabile algorithm that doesn’t just create a single sterile sound barrier but multiple kinds that can adapt to whatever situation. The lighter design and comfortable pad along the bridge of the headphone is even great for people that wear glasses, like me. Not that you wear glasses.”

She looks at him offering out the headphones. MinSeok takes them, his thumb brushes her hand and soft pink spreads over her cheeks before she turns away. He looks them over carefully, mulling what she’s said. He might not know the details, but he does know what quality feels like. Also...

“Parkrive Tech? As in Park JinAe? Did you make these?” MinSeok inspects the glowing blue headphones further, wonder in his eyes. 

She turns her back to him pulling a tablet out of her backpack. 

“Most people ask if it's my husband's company, how did you know I made them?”

MinSeok's head snaps up at the word husband, could she be married.

“Umm, it's the way you talked about them. I heard pride and accomplishment. Does your husband work with you?” MinSeok swallows down the acid rolling up his throat.

“My what?! Oh no I'm not married, no husband, no boyfriend. Totally single, that's me.” She waves a hand around, punctuating her statement flippantly.

“Good,” MinSeok declares.

JinAe looks bewildered, caught completely unaware at his statement. When she looks at him, MinSeok feels that her green eyes are seeing more of him then he is used to people seeing. 

“Good?” she repeats, a little softly before clearing her throat. “Good, okay, um yeah so music. Where should we start? You haven’t heard of EXO, I am still wrapping my head around that, what about BTS? I’m a little scared to ask.”

MinSeok drops his head with a shake. She lets out a loud groan. 

“Alright you're a 20 something guy, how about Blackpink? Four hot Korean chicks singing and dancing, what's not to like?” Her tone is that of one grasping at straws.

“I’m sorry, but I can give up the statistics of most of the players in the Korean Football Association,” he offers with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh I love statistics, I don’t know if I've run any football statistics before. NO! Oh no you will not throw me into a statics playground and distract me. Numbers are my superpower and statistics are like Gamma rays to Bruce Banner.” She shakes her head. “No! I will not be swayed by your siren song.” 

She waves her hands around her head. MinSeok has smiled more in the last ten minutes than he has in months. He has no idea what she's talking about most of the time but something about her, the energy she exudes? The joys? The freedom? It’s filling him up and the exhaustion he’d been fighting slipped off his shoulders. 

“Your first lesson is K-Pop, Korean Pop, a music genre from South Korea. I can give you the Wikipedia version with facts, dates and my favorite numbers but I don't want to blow your mind yet. Put on your head phones we are going in hot.”

Before he can move she pulls the headphones out of his hands and places them on his head. MinSeok goes still at the tiny woman leaning into his space and the jasmine scent he’d only caught a hint of before wraps around him. She radiates heat. He wants to lean into the warmth to see if she’ll melt the ice that had been forming in his heart. 

“Oh, oh I am so sorry that was so not cool of me.” She steps back, taking her warmth with her. He leans forward unconsciously chasing after it. 

“Huh!?” he was so caught up with her smell and closeness he wasn't sure what she had done. 

“I touched your head without asking, that was so rude, I’m sorry.”

“Ah, I don’t mind. You don't have to ask to touch me. You’re my teacher.”

“Okay well lesson one is one of my favorites EXO, debuted in 2012 with twelve members they have separated, re-formed and some members have left. I won’t get into the random fan battles over the different groups; this is about the music and the way the music makes me feel. Their music incorporates pop, hip-hop, and dance. Let me tell you they can _dance_ ,” she closed her eyes and a smile spread wide over her face. Her eyes pop open, “nope before I go down the Loveshot hip thrust rabbit hole we need to get to the music.”

“I’m a little scared to ask, Loveshot hip Thrust?”

“Na,nanana, nanan, I don't know if my mind will be able to function if we watch the video so we will just listen to the song. If you really want to know, check Youtube. Please tell me you know what that is?”

Min-Seok smiles and nods.

“Oh thank Google. Press the flower power button and I’ll start the music. Once they’re on you probably won't be able to hear me so give me a thumbs up when you're ready.”

“Flower power?” He smirks. 

She smiles and wiggles her eyebrows. A soft chime and then silence. The ambient noise stops. He sees her lips moving. She sounds further away, almost a soft echo. No wonder he had snuck up on her earlier. He gives her a thumbs up and she puts down her tablet and the music fills the silence. She moves closer rocking her shoulders along to the beat now suddenly in his head. The tempo picks up and so does her movement. 

JinAe holds out her hand inviting him onto her dance floor. 

He used to dance with his mom around the house. They’d laugh and pull the craziest dance moves. He told his mom he’d be a dancer some day and she had told him he could do anything. But once she passed away the music in the house stopped and he focused on martial arts and business. 

The song changes and he mostly ignores the lyrics, focusing on the song pulsing through his ears. He takes her hand and moves with her. He wants to draw her in closer, hold her against him. Min-Seok is half convinced he will combust if she was in his arms completely. Her smile blinds him, drags his attention to her soft pink lips. 

She nods her head, drops his hands and raises her arms up to spin. When she looks at him she nods her head slowly and gestures for him to copy. He copies her head movement. He looks around self conscious but she grabs his chin and points two fingers at her. 

He can almost hear her voice in his head, _watch me_. He’s not sure he could ever look away now that he has seen her. He hasn’t been able to the whole time.

She takes his hand and pulls, closing more of the distance he’d wanted to disappear in the first place. She may be tiny but she fills up the inches between them. JinAe places a hand on his hips and twists them and lifts her eyebrows. Her smile is playful while his heart attempts to jump out his throat. Min-Seok breaths her in and lets go. He thinks of his mom again and wishes she could meet this woman breaking every wall he built in less than an hour. 

They get lost in the music and fast songs have them jumping around laughing. The headphones may block the sound from them but wake a sleeping passenger nearby. JinAe waves and bows her apologies and the passenger wanders away to find a more peaceful reprieve. As soon as he’s gone JinAe silently laughs, her eyes sparky and unable to resist Min-Seok pulls off the headphones just in time to hear her snort and giggle harder. JinAe launches at him and pushes the headphones back down around his ears. He captures her in his arms and holds her tight against him.

His layers of clothing had made sense coming to the airport but now he is overheated from dancing, from being near his own personal sunshine. The song changes to something slower, she relaxes into him and he rocks from their bodies side to side. Her arms reach up around his neck, her finger dragging over his hair. Min-Seok tightens his hold, stepping forward and lifting her up against him. He spins them and watches in wonder as she throws her head back. 

Min-Seok doesn't know how long they slow dance through the songs. It didn't matter the tempo he just wanted to move with her, hold her, lose himself in this stolen moment. JinAe places her head on his chest, she may not be able hear his heart beating but as close as she is he is sure she can feel the fluttering against her cheek. 

It feels like hours, feels like a lifetime before she pulls away and lowers her headphones looking up at him. He pushes down his headphones and waits. 

“I did not expect you.” Her voice is soft, a mix of wonder, hope, and maybe a little sadness.

“I didn’t expect you either.” MinSeok places his palm on her cheek as she leans into his touch. 

“I don’t even know you. Are you coming or going? Do you have plans for the rest of your life?” She lets out an awkward laugh before stepping back. She turns away and takes off her headphones. He follows her unable to resist her pull.

“Well we are stuck here for awhile, let's figure it out. How about we get some snacks, blankets and a ton of pillows, make a blanket fort?” Min-Seok offers his hand on her shoulder. 

She turns with a soft smile, but what tinges of sadness had clouded her expression fall away.

“You sir have got yourself an airport date. I’ll get the pillows, meet you in the far corner. Don’t forget the wine.”

“Red or white?”

“Yes please.” She runs off grinning. 

It takes them twenty minutes to build the fort, MinSoek is shocked to see her bring in a string of twinkling lights. He promised not to ask where the lights came from. They made a picnic of snacks with a few different bottles from the bar. They crawl inside splitting the food and wine.

After the first bottle of wine he learns she was born in Korea, but raised in America. She built her first computer when she was seven. She graduated summa cum laude from MIT with a Masters in the Science of Computer Sciences. By the age of twenty five she started her own business and it was her company that developed Prism a thriving music app released along with their headphones.

“So you're pretty much amazing.” Min-Seok sighs, “and you are way too good for me.” 

“Ha, no that means I am an _uber_ nerd. I haven't even brought up my comic book and manga figure collection yet.”

“Oh I don't doubt you are a nerd but you are the cutest, smartest nerd I have ever seen. I just work and destroy companies for my dad.” Min-Seok can feel his shoulders growing tense. “I hate it.” 

JinAe shifts around the tent and lays her head down on his lap. 

“Have we made it to the dysfunctional family portion of the evening?” 

Min-Seok laughs, the unease falling away so easily, and gives into the desire to brush the hair from her face. She lets out a soft purr and he slowly strokes a hand through her hair. 

For the first time in his life he begins to talk. He tells her about his mom, he tells her about his father and his lost childhood. She listens, and so, he keeps talking. 

He talks until his throat burns and his chest feels hollowed out. When the words stop, the exhaustion is back and yet lighter, so _so_ much lighter. She crawls around into his lap and wraps him into a hug. JinAe buries her face against his neck. She doesn't tell him he is overreacting, doesn't say it will get better she just holds him and pulls him back together. 

“Thank you for telling me. Next airport date I’ll tell you about the time I hacked NASA.”

Min-Seok chuckles and pulls her in tighter. He can’t tell if his warmth is just from her anymore or if, by some miracle, like an angel, she’s given him some of his own.

They fall asleep wrapped around each other. 

JinAe wakes him with an elbow to the stomach a few hours later. She whispers her apology before running off toward the bathroom. Min-Seok checks his phone and sees that it is a little after six in the morning. He can hear more people around their fort, the quiet bubble bursting with the sun. JinAe returns with two muffins and a bottle of orange juice each a few minutes later. 

“Good morning, they are opening up the runaways and flights should resume in the next few hours.” She offers as a proper greeting now that they’re both full up.

“I checked, my flight to Incheon is at ten am.” 

“My flight to London is at eight.” JinAe sighs and turns her head away from him. 

“Hey, stop. Do you really think I won’t see you again? Even if I didn’t try, you can find me.”

“I mean I only hack for the greater good. Not to chase potential boyfriends. Not that I haven't done full background on some of my dates, but come on, just safe dating practices.” 

Min-Seok pulls her into the fort and kisses her. It’s a chaste kiss, a taste of juice and something JinAe. 

“Seriously, you kiss me now when we are surrounded by people and I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet. I've been waiting for _hours_.”

“You could have kissed me first.” He rubs his nose against hers

“Ha, I am not that bold.”

“Yes you are. You seduced a stranger in an airport with nothing but your smile and headphones.” The smile refuses to leave his face.

“And EXO, don't forget they played a major part in this happening.”

“That is true, the music definitely helped break the ice.”

“Well there is that but also,” she pulls off his hat, puts her hands on the side of his face. “Has anyone ever told you that you look exactly like Xiumin? When you first walked up I thought you were him, but then I remember that he is still in the military.”

“Wait so you thought I was this guy from EXO and that's why you started talking to me.” 

“I knew once you started dancing there is no way you were the same guy. Xiumin is an amazing dancer.”

“Oh so were you disappointed I wasn’t this Xiumin?”

“Nope, I don’t think I could have survived Xiumin in real life, and dancing. Nope I’ll keep you.” 

Min-Seok has no idea what is going to happen in the future but he knows one thing, that while she takes care of business in London for the next three months he is going to learn to dance and make her forget all about this Xiumin guy. He needed to watch that Loveshot video... 

JinAe gives him the blue headphone, sets up his phone with her phone number, email, every social media account she has and a full accessaccounton Prism. He walks her to her gate and she kisses him goodbye. They hold each other until the last possible moment and JinAe walks backwards waving at him and blowing kisses. 

He never expected to find a spring meadow in the middle of a snow storm. He had a lot of work to do until he saw her again. It starts with a conversation with his father and then buying a ticket to London. 


End file.
